\n<\/p>\n
Labour ministers have scrapped a promise by the previous government for a \u00a3950m fund for installing electric car chargers near motorways, instead setting aside a smaller sum mainly for on-street charging points.<\/p>\n
The rapid charging fund (RCF) was first announced in 2020 by Rishi Sunak, then Conservative chancellor, with the aim of supporting upgrades to the grid so that more electric vehicles could be rapidly charged at the same time.<\/p>\n
However, it was mired in delays amid concerns it could unfairly benefit some motorway service companies.<\/p>\n
The Department for Transport said the RCF had never formally been included in budget plans, so the promise was unfunded.<\/p>\n
The Guardian revealed in March that ministers were considering directing proposed funding away from motorway services amid criticism of the fund\u2019s design from industry.<\/p>\n
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, committed \u00a3400m over the next five years \u201cto support the rollout of charging infrastructure\u201d in this month\u2019s spending review, after announcing \u00a3200m for charging in the autumn budget. It is understood much of the spending will support on-street charge points in poorer areas, where private-sector investment has lagged behind.<\/p>\n
However, some people in the charging industry said the government should have honoured the \u00a3950m pledge in full, even if the money was redirected towards other incentives for people to switch to EVs.<\/p>\n
John Lewis, the chief executive of char.gy, which operates on-street chargers, welcomed the \u00a3400m pledge. However, he said: \u201cThe key question now is: couldn\u2019t the full amount have been directed towards the EV effort \u2013 whether through the continued rollout of on-street charging or other consumer incentives \u2013 to give people greater confidence to make the switch to electric?\u201d<\/p>\n
The number of electric car chargers in the UK is rising rapidly, passing 80,000 in May, according to the data company Zap Map. That represented a 29% increase compared with a year earlier, while the number of rapid chargers with power above 50kW rose by a third.<\/p>\n
Quick Guide<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>Show<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Not all chargers are created equal<\/strong><\/p>\n More and more people are buying electric cars, and are having to grapple with charging for the first time. However, not all chargers are created equal, and the profusion of units can cause confusion.<\/p>\n Charging speeds are measured by power output in kilowatts (kW), while battery capacity is measured in kilowatt hours (kWh). For example, a Nissan Leaf has 39kWh of battery capacity, while a Tesla Model Y has 60kWh.<\/p>\n Recharge times vary depending on battery size: divide the battery size by the power to get a very rough idea of how many hours it will take to charge. (E.g., a 60kWh battery at a 22kW charger would take about three hours.) The quicker the charge, the more it tends to cost.<\/p>\n Slow: up to 8kW<\/strong><\/p>\n Common at homes, on-street chargers and places cars hang around like car parks or hotels. Suitable for charging overnight. Plugging in with a UK three-pin plug to the mains at home will deliver about 2.3kW \u2013 although it is not recommended.<\/p>\n Fast: 8kW to 49kW<\/strong><\/p>\n Found at urban sites like supermarkets, shopping centres or car parks. Capable of charging a smaller battery in a few hours.<\/p>\n Rapid: 50kW to 150kW<\/strong><\/p>\n Typically found close to big roads for journey charging, but also increasingly found in locations such as supermarkets or gyms with short dwell times. 50kW could give 80% charge in less than an hour.<\/p>\n Ultra-rapid: 150kW and above<\/strong><\/p>\n Most chargers being installed at motorway services or dedicated charging hubs are now at least 150kW.\u00a0 Many newer cars can now handle 150kW, and several can charge at speeds of over 300kW, adding hundreds of miles of range in around 10 minutes.<\/p>\n Photograph: John Walton\/PA Wire<\/p>\n Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n Increasing the number of public chargers is seen as crucial to persuading people to switch to electric cars. However, the focus has shifted from rapid chargers, which can allay \u201crange anxiety\u201d on longer journeys, to the slower on-street chargers needed for car owners who do not have private parking spaces.<\/p>\n Ian Johnston, the chief executive of Osprey Charging, said: \u201cNew funding should be more effectively deployed on projects in prime locations where the grid connection costs render the site unviable \u2013 whether A roads, underserved regions or the small number of motorway locations with unviable grid \u2013 rather than gifted to all motorway sites regardless of the costs, as was envisaged under the RCF.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnston also called for changes to road signage permissions to allow charge points to be easily advertised to drivers.<\/p>\n Quentin Willson, the founder of FairCharge, a group campaigning for cheaper charging, said the full \u00a3950m should have been spent on accelerating the switch to electric cars.<\/p>\n \u201cWithholding unused RCF funds and not diverting them towards other EV charging initiatives isn\u2019t a great look for government,\u201d he said. \u201cIt opens them to the obvious questions about their commitment to the EV transition.\u201d<\/p>\n Willson, a former presenter of Top Gear, said the government should also cut VAT on public charging to match the lower rates available on home electricity.<\/p>\n A Department for Transport spokesperson said: <\/strong>\u201cThe rapid charging fund was designed to support the rollout of charging infrastructure on motorways and major A roads \u2013 but the previous government did not set out detailed plans to deliver this.<\/p>\n \u201cSince the fund was announced in 2020, the market has changed significantly, with the number of open-access rapid and ultra-rapid charge points within one mile of the strategic road network almost quadrupling in the last three years alone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Labour ministers have scrapped a promise by the previous government for a \u00a3950m fund for installing electric car chargers near motorways, instead setting aside a smaller sum mainly for on-street charging points. The rapid charging fund (RCF) was first announced in 2020 by Rishi Sunak, then Conservative chancellor, with the aim of supporting upgrades to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[1682,1685,1689,1684,1686,719,1051,1687,134,1688,1683,1681],"class_list":{"0":"post-9436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-950m","9":"tag-announced","10":"tag-cars","11":"tag-charging","12":"tag-conservatives","13":"tag-electric","14":"tag-fund","15":"tag-hybrid","16":"tag-labour","17":"tag-lowemission","18":"tag-rapid","19":"tag-scraps"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Electric vehicle charging speeds<\/h4>\n